Straining devices exist in the art for preparing beverages. For example, existing patents teach variations and improvements on the French press coffee maker. U.S. Pat. No. 2,053,021 to B. Cassol; U.S. Pat. No. 2,211,486 to H. G. Zoia; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,900,896 to F. Bondanini each teach a pot for making coffee where ground coffee beans are introduced into the pot along with hot water and a plunger that is used to strain the resulting coffee extraction mixture. The used grounds are pushed to the bottom of the pot and coffee that is free of grounds remains at the top of the pot where it can be accessed by a user.
As an improvement to the conventional French press, some inventors teach adding a stirring assembly at the bottom of the plunger, which allows the coffee grounds to be mechanically stirred within the water to improve extraction. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,459,498 to R. T. Cameron, U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,218 to Biolchini, and French Patent Publication WO 00/27261 by Dominguez each teach paddles that spin below the bottom of a plunger to stir a mixture of coffee grounds and water (the paddles do not contact the bottom of the plunger).
Although these inventions provide for fast preparation extractions and mixed beverages, they remain deficient and unacceptable for many applications. For example, each of the disclosures discussed above teaches a plunger that is configured to strain solid particles such as coffee grounds from liquid. The plunger creates a barrier that prevents solid particles of a defined size from passing through the strainer and thereby confines solid particles to the bottom of the pot. Particles are caught by the strainer but allow liquid to flow through the strainer. However, the strainer becomes clogged as particles accumulate against the bottom of the strainer and the user is eventually unable to depress the plunger any further because fluid can no longer pass through the strainer.
Clogging of the strainer creates an undesirable user experience because many mixed liquids are unable to be strained, even after multiple attempts. Such clogging can occur when straining extractions such as coffee, tea or the like and may occur when straining other mixed beverages including fruit smoothies containing seeds and skins. In view of the foregoing, a need exists for an improved beverage strainer in an effort to overcome the aforementioned obstacles and deficiencies of conventional beverage strainers.
It should be noted that the figures are not drawn to scale and that elements of similar structures or functions are generally represented by like reference numerals for illustrative purposes throughout the figures. It also should be noted that the figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the preferred embodiments. The figures do not illustrate every aspect of the described embodiments and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.